Prong extender for a paper fastener



J. 2, i940. H. D. sNYDER PRONG EXTENDER FOR A PAPER FASTENER Filed Nov. 5, 1936 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 2, 1940 harem" arriba.

Harry D. Snyder, New York, N. Y., assigner to Parrot Speed Fastener Island City, N. Y., a

Corporation, Long corporation of New York Application November 3, 1936, Serial No. 108,931 l 2 Claims.

rlhe subject matter of the present invention is a paper fastener of the type adapted to conn veniently secure or bind a stack of papers and more particularly is concerned with a paper file fastener wherein a substantially U shaped strap has its prong or arms first threaded through alined perforations in a stack of papers and subsequently threaded through spaced slots in a retaining member or compressor after which the prongs are folded down against the compressor and appropriately locked by suitable means cooperating with the compressor for securely holding the intervening stack between the base of the strap and the compressor.

In practice, it has been customary, to pile one sheet of paper upon the other to form the intervening stack to be bound. However, the height of the stack to be bound is limited by the length of the foldab-le prongs. During appreciable accretions to the stack, the papers or records to be bound or fastened, often exceed the capacity of the prongs and the user was left with the alternative of either starting a new le by utilizing another fastener to secure the accretions, or removing the fastener from the stack and substitute another fastener therefor having prongs of a length much longer than the length of the prongs of the fastener originally employed. In practice these alternative methods are unsatisfactory. In the first case, one set of records becomes divided and are bound in several stacks. In the second case extra time and labor are needed to Substitute a new fastener having longer prongs for the previously used fastener. Accordingly the object of the present invention is realized in the provision of a conveniently controlled and improved paper fastener in which the disadvantages above alluded to are overcome and in which the effective lengths of the prongs may be readily extended manifold to take care of sudden and/or progressive accretions to the original stacks as they occur from time to time. Other objects, advantages, and features of the invention are in part obvious and in part hereinafter more particularly set forth and for a clearer understanding of the invention attention is directed to the app-ended specification considered in the light of the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a U shaped strap showing the manner in which the exible and foldable arms or prongs thereof may be extended to take care of accretions to a stack of records.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional View of a paper fastener according to the invention wherein a relatively large stack of records or papers schematically shown are interposed and bernd between the compressor and base of the strap.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line -b, of Fig. L particularly showing the prong extender retained between the locking means and the compr-essor.

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing a slightly modified prong.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view in perspective of a U shaped strap shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a. fragmentary perspective view of a U shaped strap on which the prong extender is mounted and retained and wherein the terminals of the prongs of the strap are bent outwardly and downwardly against the outer interrupted side oi the loop and Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line -li Fig. 8. p

Illustrative of the embodiments according to the invention, the paper fastener ill comprises a U shaped strap il, a compressor i?. and slidabie and hinged but disconnectable locking means i3; As shown in Fig. 1, the strap is a one piece member having a reinforced ribbed base it i which integrally and upwardly projects the fordable exible and resilient arms or prongs i5.

The height of the stack to be bound between the base of the strap and the compressor depends upon the length of the prongs. Hitherto, where a large stack of papers was required to be bound, a strap having a relatively long prong was er ployed or a portion of the stack in excess ci f o height of the prong was bound by another paper fastener. With the present invention, prong extenders i6 utilized in conjunction with 1 prongs i5 of' the original paper fastener pe the stack to be increased whereby papers or like may be piled up to a height many times greater than the length of the prongs i5 of the strap ll.

Each prong extender i6 comprises a relatively thin and flat, flexible and foldable metal having a rectangular cross section as illustrated. Each prong extender is. provided at its lower end with a turned over refleXed o-r laterally project .g portion Il which serves as a stop for a slidable loop I8 mounted thereto. Each prong extender is provided with a struck out outwardly overhanging protuberance or projection i@ which an elongated or restricted opening 23 in which a tapered terminal 24 of prong I5 may be inserted flatwise relative to or against the flat foldalolev and flexible prong extender I6.

With the pointed terminal 24 of a prong I5 inserted. in a slidable loop of the prong extender,

the part of the terminal projecting above the loop is bent downwardly and against the juxtapositioned inner ends 22 of the interrupted inner side of the loop, thus preventing movement of the loop relative to the bent prong, or in other Words, when terminal 2li is bent over the loop, a crown is formed and this crown serves as a supplementary stop to prevent displacement of the loop.

When assembled slippage of the prong ex tender and loop relative to each other or relative to the prong of the strap is also prevented due to the irregularities in the contour formed in the prong and prong extender after having been 30 slightly bent which sets undulating surfaces which frictionally engage due to the fact that the body of the prong I5, and prong extender I6 are closely conned within the gap or relatively restricted opening 23 and are closely encompassed by the sides of the loop. However if desired, although in practice, it has been found not necessary a protuberance 26 (see Figs. 6 and 7) may be struck out from each of the prongs I5 for cooperation with reflexed end 2 of the prong extender to prevent downward displacement of the latter when mounted on prong I5.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the left' hand prong I5 of the U shaped strap II has its terminal 24 bent over to be disposed substantially atwise relative to the juxtapositioned `terminals 22 of the interrupted side of the slidable loop, that is, in this instance, the interrupted side of the loop is disposed on the inside face of prong I5 and when bent down terminal 24 also cooperates to prevent spreading of terminals 22.

In Fig. 1, two superimposed prong extenders I 6 are sustained by the left hand prong. The lowest prong extender is connected to the prong of the strap in the manner heretofore explained.

. The loop of the upper prong extender has projected through it the terminal of the lower prong extender. This terminal 24, however, if desired need not be bent down and relative displacement between the overlapped and superimposed prong extenders is prevented because the sides of the loop frictionally and closely hold the bodies of the adjacent prongs in frictional engagement and thus longitudinal slippage between the adjacent prongs is prevented even though the terminal of the lower prong is not bent over the loop but if bent down accidental detachment of the superimposed prongs is positively prevented. Of course, if desired, terminal 24 of the prong I5 need not be bent down, and the terminal of the lower prong extender may be bent down against the loop of the upper prong extender.

Where the stack S increases to a height greater than the load capacity of the prongs I5 of the strap, prong extenders I5 may be readily connected to the prongs I5 in the manner as above pointed out. If the stack of papers increases to a height beyond the capacity of the iirst set or lower stage of prong extenders i5 another set of prong extenders may be readily applied or joined to the rst set of prong extenders. It is therefore apparent that by the present invention that regardless of the size of the stack of papers to be bound. a new set of prong extenders may be quickly connected to take care of new accretions in load to the original stack.

In Fig. 4 a single set of prong extenders are connected in superimposed fashion to the pair of prongs of the U shaped strap It. in Fig. 1, two superimposedvprong extenders are illustrated, the lower set being connected to the prongs of the base in the manner shown while the upper prong extenders are connected to the lower prong extenders as herein indicated.

With the paper load mounted on a pair of prong extenders, the free ends of the latter are threaded into the slotted compressor i2 in Fig. 4. Thereafter locking means i3 cooperating with the compressor may be moved into position to disconnectably interlock therewith to hold the inwardly bent ends of the prong extenders, threaded through the compressor, adjacent the latter. As shown, locking means I3 is of the slidable and swingable type as disclosed in U. S. Patent 2,012,572 although the invention is not limited to any particular type oi locking means to hold the threaded ends of the prong extenders against the compressor as is well understood.

According to the showing in Fig. 8, juxtapositioned ends 22 of loop IB face outwardly andl the terminal 2li of the lower prong is bent over the loop to be adjacent the interrupted outer side of the loop formed by adjacent ends 22 and a protuberance or projection 26 is struck out of the lower prong to cooperate with the refiexed portion 2l' to prevent downward displacement of the upper prong or prong extender. Similarly the prong extenders l5 are each provided with a struck out protuberance 25 inwardly overhanging the body thereof to cooperate with a reflexed portion as 2l of a superimposed prong extender as is Well understood.

Should the stack S in Fig. 4 be sufficiently increased to require another set of prong extenders, the locking means is unlocked, and raised. Access is'then had to the upper ends of the prong extenders lpreviously yieldingly confined between the closed lock and the compressor. Subsequentlythese ends are straightened. The compressor is removed and another set of prong extenders are fastened or connected to the unbent ends of the next lower prong extenders after which the accretions are added to stack S,`the compressor is mounted on the upper prong extenders and the free ends of the latter are bent down against the compressor. Thereafter the lock is closed, thus binding the intervening but enlarged stack of papers between the compressor and the base of the strap.

Since the prong extender it, prong i5, and loop I8 are of a suitable foldable and iiexible metal, the overlapping connection or joint between juxtapositioned terminals of a pair of prongs may be readily dismantled. To this end terminals 2G are straightened, and the adjacent parts of the prongs are pulled apart causing the terminal 2li t'o be removed or disconnected from the socket or loop I8.

Without furthery analysis, the foregoing disclosure will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it to various applications without omitting certain features that from the standpoint of the prior art fairly constitute the essential characteristics of the generic and specic aspect of the invention and therefore such adaptations are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency oi the following claims.

claim:

l. A prong extender comprising a flexible and foldable body, a loop slidably and loosely encompassing said body at one end thereof, and upper and lower spaced stops integral with and projecting from said body to limit displacement on said loop longitudinally of said body.

2. A prong extender comprising an elongated exible and foldable body, a loop slidably and loosely guided by said body at the lower end thereof, spaced upper and lower projecting means integral with said end and extending laterally of said body and cooperating with spaced upper and lower edges of said loop to limit displacement of the latter lengthwise of said 10 end.

HARRY D. SNYDERT 

